JPH07113173A - Ion beam sputtering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To carry out the independent control of the degree of the vacuum of a thin film forming part and the atmospheric gas separating from the sputter ion source to execute the thin film formation by constituting two vacuum chambers where the sputter part is connected to the thin film forming part by a small opening part. CONSTITUTION:The part where the ion beam 2 from an ion source 1 is struck against a sputter target 3 to make the sputter particles emit is referred to the sputter part. The part of the substrate 7 to receive the sputter particles 4 is referred to the thin film forming chamber. The sputter part and the thin film forming chamber are constituted by vacuum vessels 9, and are connected to each other by a smaller opening 6 compared to the evacuation capacity so that the sputter particles 4 may pass between the two, but the vacuum pressure and the composition of the atmospheric gas may be controlled. The degree of the vacuum of the sputter part is kept to the value appropriate for the operation of the ion source 1 by the evacuation capacity of the opening 6 and the ion gas supply 11, and the degree of the vacuum and the atmosphere of the thin film forming part is controlled by the discharging volume of the discharging device 10a and the supply from the vacuum vessel gas supply line 1 2. The discharging device may be respectively provided on the vacuum chamber of the sputter part and the vacuum chamber of the thin film forming part.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ion beam sputtering apparatus, and more particularly to an ion beam sputtering apparatus suitable for sputtering a sputtering target and applying scattered sputtered particles to a substrate to form a film.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional ion beam sputtering apparatus, as shown in FIG. 2, a sputtering target 3 and a substrate 7 for forming a thin film are provided in the same vacuum container, and the processing vacuum degree during sputtering film formation is The degree of vacuum is suitable for the operation of the sputtering ion source 1. Therefore, the ion beam sputtering apparatus has a feature that film formation can be performed in a higher vacuum than the conventional conventional sputtering apparatus and magnetron sputtering apparatus.

A shutter 5 is provided between the sputter target 3 and the substrate 7 to perform a pre-sputtering process for cleaning the surface of the sputter target 3 so that impurities and compounds combined with atmospheric gas are not attached to the substrate 7. It has a different structure.

[0004]

However, in these methods, when the degree of vacuum during the film forming process is constant and the characteristics of the thin film to be formed change depending on the degree of vacuum, for example, the film is formed in a low vacuum and the thin film is formed. It is not possible to control the internal stress of the film to be a compressive stress, for example, by using oxygen in the atmosphere during the process such as entraining a specific gas therein. On the contrary, there is a problem that the film forming environment cannot be controlled such that the internal stress is reduced unless the film is formed in a high vacuum and gas impurities are mixed.

On the other hand, there is a conventional technique (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-170669) in which a sorting member for allowing the sputtered particles 4 to pass is provided between the sputter target 3 and the substrate 7. Even though the vacuum pressure can be set to an arbitrary value, a large amount of argon, which is the ion for sputtering, flows from the ion source 1 to control the atmospheric gas component because the atmospheric gas component is not controlled. Can not do it.

Further, during the pre-sputtering, even if the shutter 5 is provided between the substrate 7 and the sputtering target 3, the sputtered particles 4 scattered from the portion without the shutter 5 toward the substrate 7 collide with the gas in vacuum. Sometimes it adheres to the substrate 7, and a little film adheres to the substrate 7 during pre-sputtering,
There is a problem that a predetermined film cannot be formed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
The purpose is to select the vacuum degree of the film formation chamber independently of the vacuum degree suitable for the operation of the ion source for sputtering, and to perform film formation on the substrate during pre-sputtering in which the target is cleaned before film formation. Is to provide an ion beam sputtering apparatus in which sputtered particles do not jump in at that time.

[0008]

The above object is to provide a vacuum two-chamber structure with a sputtering unit for applying an ion beam to a sputtering target to scatter sputtered particles and a film forming unit for forming a thin film by the sputtered particles. This is achieved by connecting the two chambers with an opening smaller than the exhaust capacity so that the sputtered particles can pass but the vacuum pressure and the atmospheric gas components can be independently controlled.

[0009]

With the above structure, the two vacuum chambers connected by the opening which is smaller than the exhausting capacity of the exhausting device can have independent degrees of vacuum to some extent. For example, when making the film forming chamber side a low vacuum, provide a vacuum exhaust port on the sputter side,
When a high vacuum is to be provided, an exhaust port is provided on the film forming chamber side, and when both are used together, exhaust ports are provided on both sides to perform vacuum exhaust using two sets of vacuum exhaust equipment.

By doing so, the degree of vacuum in the film forming chamber can be controlled by controlling the vacuum pressure and the atmospheric gas independently of the degree of vacuum suitable for the operation of the sputter ion source.

By using a shutter having a size slightly larger than the opening size, sputtered particles are prevented from being scattered into the film forming chamber during presputtering, so that the sputtered particles during presputtering change the direction of contact with the gas in vacuum. There is no need to worry about forming a film on the substrate.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The ion beam sputtering apparatus of the present invention will be described below based on the illustrated embodiments. The same reference numerals are used for the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the ion beam sputtering apparatus of the present invention. As shown in the figure, when the ion beam 2 extracted from the ion source 1 hits the sputter target 3, the sputtered particles 4 are scattered. This part is called a sputter part. The substrate 7 is installed in the direction in which the sputtered particles 4 are scattered. This portion is referred to as a film forming portion. Each of these is composed of a vacuum container, and sputtered particles can pass between them, but are connected by an opening 6 which is smaller than the evacuation capability.

The supply amount from the ion source gas supply 11 is determined from the exhaust capacity determined by the conductance of the opening 6 so that the degree of vacuum in the sputter section becomes a degree suitable for the operation of the ion source 1. Normally, the vacuum degree of the sputter part is 5 × 10
It is adjusted within the range of ^-5 Torr to ⁵ x 10 ^-4 Torr. The degree of vacuum in the film forming chamber can be determined by the exhaust device A10a and the supply amount from the vacuum container gas supply 12 so that the degree of vacuum in the film forming condition is the same.

The degree of vacuum can be changed from the degree of vacuum to about one tenth thereof, although it depends on the exhaust device A10a and the opening diameter. That is, since the degree of vacuum can be changed in accordance with the demand of film formation, it is possible to form a film in a high vacuum to prevent gas in the thin film from being mixed, and it is possible to form a thin film having a small internal stress. Alternatively, the atmosphere gas during film formation can be changed to a low vacuum.

At the time of pre-sputtering for cleaning the surface of the sputter target 3, the shutter 5 is closed. When the shutter 5 is slightly larger than the opening diameter, the impure sputtered particles 4 on the surface of the sputter target 3 do not adhere to the substrate 7 during presputtering.

Further, sputtered particles 4 passing through the opening
Is only directional. When there is no partition plate, spatter particles 4 scattered in directions other than the direction of the substrate 7 collide with the gas in the vacuum, and adhere to the substrate 7 to prevent the film formation from getting around by the non-directional sputter particles 4.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, the exhaust device B10b is provided in the sputtering chamber vacuum chamber. Other configurations are the same as those shown in FIG.

In the present embodiment, the sputtering unit requiring a vacuum degree suitable for the operation of the ion source 1 is the exhaust device B10b,
It is determined by the gas flow rate of the ion source gas supply 11. The vacuum degree of the film forming unit vacuum chamber can be determined independently of the sputtering unit vacuum chamber by the gas flow rates of the exhaust device A10a and the vacuum container gas supply 12.

By doing so, in addition to the effects of the above-mentioned embodiment, it is possible to form a film at a low degree of vacuum.
For example, it is possible to make the vacuum 10 times lower than that of the sputtering chamber. Therefore, for example, a film is formed in a gas atmosphere such as oxygen,
It is also possible to mix oxygen gas in the thin film.

[0022]

According to the ion beam sputtering apparatus of the present invention described above, the degree of vacuum of the film forming portion can be determined independently of the degree of vacuum required for the operation of the sputter ion source. It is possible to form a film with a small internal stress, etc., by not forming a gas in the thin film by mixing with a thin film, or by forming a film in a low vacuum and mixing a gas in the thin film to compress the internal stress. It is possible to control the characteristics such as changing to. Further, since the vacuum atmosphere gas component of the film forming portion can be arbitrarily set, there is an effect that the characteristics of film formation by the residual gas can be controlled.

On the other hand, at the time of pre-sputtering for cleaning the surface of the sputter target, the chamber can be completely shielded by closing the shutter, so that particles can be completely prevented from adhering to the substrate during pre-sputtering. Furthermore, since the sputtered particles that pass through the openings to form a film have only directivity, there is also an effect that it is possible to prevent the film from getting around.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of an ion beam sputtering apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a conventional ion beam sputtering apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the ion beam sputtering apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ion source for sputtering, 2 ... Ion beam, 3 ... Sputter target, 4 ... Sputtered particles, 5 ... Shutter, 6
... Connection openings, 7 ... Substrate, 8 ... Substrate holder, 9 ... Vacuum container, 10a ... Exhaust device A, 10b ... Exhaust device B, 11 ...
Ion source gas supply, 12 ... Vacuum container gas supply.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An ion source, a sputter target disposed at a position where an ion beam extracted from the ion source strikes, and a substrate disposed at a position where sputtered particles from the sputter target are scattered to form a film. In an ion beam sputtering apparatus including a supporting substrate holder, a sputtering unit for applying the ion beam to a sputtering target to scatter sputtered particles and a film forming unit for forming a thin film by the sputtered particles of the sputtering unit are provided in a vacuum chamber 2 An ion beam sputtering apparatus having a structure in which two chambers are connected with an opening smaller than exhaust capacity so that sputtered particles can pass through both of them but vacuum pressure and atmospheric gas components can be independently controlled. 2. The ion beam sputtering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an exhaust device is provided in each of the sputtering chamber vacuum chamber and the film deposition chamber vacuum chamber.